Henry Five, Written
by James Scott & William Shakespeare, Directed by James Scott, Honest Puck
production, CADA Theatre, Fyshwick to 16 October.
Reviewed by Len Power 7 October 2016
In James Scott’s play, ‘Henry Five’, a small theatre company
returns to put together a production of ‘Henry V’ for a Shakespeare Festival
after a disastrous performance of ‘Coriolanus’ five years before. They have virtually no money for sets and
costumes and few actors to perform the work, meaning there will have to be
major cuts to the text of the play.
Everyone’s doubts are overcome by the enthusiasm of the director and a
determination to beat a rival company and we see the finished production as presented
on the opening night of the Festival.
It’s a clever idea to bookend the play with a modern day
story showing a group of actors beset by limitations and struggling to put on a
major Shakespearian play. For anyone
who’s ever worked with a small theatre company, it’s easy to identify with the
problems they face. The problem with
this show is that the opening story is so much fun that we feel we’re in for a
‘Noises Off’ type of evening. However, their
‘Henry V’ is then presented seriously and, although well acted and directed,
isn’t what we expected or wanted.
The show does have really fine performances by this group of
five actors. All are adept comedians as
demonstrated in the opening theatre company story and in the ‘Henry V’ presentation
everyone gives strong characterisations and plays with great assurance. Direction by James Scott is imaginative and
makes an asset of the limitations in set, props, costumes and number of cast
members. The battle of Agincourt is
presented as a series of tableaux that is startlingly effective.
While the mix of comedy and serious drama didn’t quite work,
the performances and the direction were impressive.
This review was first published in Canberra City News digital edition on Saturday 8 October. Len Power's reviews are also broadcast on Artsound FM 92.7 'Artcetera' program from 9.00am on Saturdays.
